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Let us hear from you!

Send in your suggestions, comments or tips via our email feedback
form or via voicemail on our toll-free feedback line (1-866-939-2278).
You can also make suggestions by replying to this post.

If you want to contribute a story for our Monday Magical Moment segment (and
possible inclusion in the Cast Place column here on MousePlanet), you can
either use our email Magical Moment story
form or the toll-free feedback line. (We love it when you use the voice
mail system, because then we can play your call on the show!)

Listener Feedback Friday!

In this week's Listener Feedback:

Shawn Coomer wrote from Guatemala again, to thank us for reading his email
on the air and to let us know that he'll look for obscure Disney references
as he and his family travel the globe.

He also sent along the location of the web
site where he's tracking their travels. Mark has caught up as far as Maine
so far, and hopes to catch up with Shawn soon. If anyone is interested in
following along on a great journey, check the site out.

Deborah wrote in to say that the multiple, shorter shows make it much easier
to listen to.

Tracy B. from Hercules, California wrote in to say that we're doing a "swell
job," and to ask a planning question.

She wants to stay as close as possible to the Magic
Kingdom, but while she is looking for a family-friendly place to stay,
but also looking for something economical. She is concerned because the Resort
hotels are pretty pricey so she have not ruled out staying at a good neighbor
hotel.

She doesn't want to have to rent a car. Also, she was wondering whether the
park-hopper options is worth it or if it would be a waste of time due to the
amount of time that it takes to get from park to park.

Mark noted that for an accurate price comparison, it would cost $11 per day
for parking if she doesn't stay on property. Also, most off-property shuttle
buses do not run nearly as frequently as Disney buses. Some off-property shuttles
only run two or three buses in the morning, and another two or three back
in the evening. (Note that buses for the Downtown
Disney Resort Area Hotels  of which Hotel
Royal Plaza is a MousePlanet sponsor  do run every 30 minutes, from
1 hour before park opening until 2 hours after park closing.)

Also, if her family needs to take a break in the middle of the day (such
as hitting morning Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom  a perk only
available to on-property guests  then take a break around lunchtime
to go back to the hotel and nap or go swimming as the crowds build at the
parks, and go back to a park in the late afternoon as the crowds start to
thin and stay through the evening's fireworks), the ability to go back and
forth is much easier with Disney transportation.

Mike noted that value resorts are a good option, though they aren't really
close to the Magic Kingdom. He also recommends park-hopping, though it does
take some time.

Mark noted that the Magic Kingdom-to-Epcot
transfer could take as little as 25 minutes if you catch the monorail just
right.

Mike recommends that people park-hop from the Disney-MGM
Studios to Disney's Animal Kingdom or
Epcot to the Magic Kingdom. He also suggests walking or taking a boat from
the Studios to Epcot. Mark thinks that the boat takes about 20 minutes, and
walking could take about the same amount of time depending on how fast you
work.

Mark likes to park-hop with a lunch at a hotel in between, or start with
morning Extra Magic Hours and then hop elsewhere when the crowds build. But
that's how he tours the parks. Park hopping all depends on your touring style.

Mike noted that, during seasons when some of the parks close early, you can
hop to a different park that closes later, or has evening Extra Magic Hours.

She also wanted to second the idea of a Top 3 Disney book list, and noted
that Disney fans love top 3 Disney anything, and that if we did a top 3 bathrooms
pick she'd be pulling out her guide maps to look for hers. She also wanted
to confirm that we were doing Epcot next.

Yes, Epcot will be next on October 3, then we'll do the other three domestic
parks, then maybe a Top 3 for all Disney parks. After that, we'll consider
all sorts of other Top 3 lists. If you've got an idea for an interesting Top
3 list, let
us know!

And as far as Top 3 bathrooms, we probably won't be doing it unless we're
desperate, but (while it hasn't been updated in quite some time) the old Happiest
Potties on Earth section is still accessible on the old MousePlanet site.

Steven Walker wrote to contribute another idea for a different Top 3, the
Top 3 Audio-Animatronics at each park. He also contributed his own choices
for the Top 3 Audio-Animatronics at Disneyland Park:

Steve Russo sent in two emails. In the first, he responded to Episode 51
(and maybe 52) to let Mark know that corn dogs are available at the BoardWalk
at a kiosk across from Seashore Sweets.

Then he recommended that Mark and Mike both go see the Hoop-Dee-Doo
Musical Revue, because he thought that they (and Mark's wife and son)
would really like it, and Mark can even use the great Disney Vacation Club
discount. Mark keeps trying to convince his wife and son to go see it, but
he never wins the discussion. Mike suggested that the two of us go see it
during MouseFest. Maybe
we'll try to squeeze it in during our copious free time. (Hah!)

Steve closed with a very easy Stump the Hosts this week, asking "Before
it became Mouse Gears, what was that Epcot shop called?" Mike doesn't
remember the shop before that, but guessed something along the lines of the
Emporium, which was close, but Mark knew that it was the Centorium. Mark actually
preferred the Centorium to the current MouseGear, both in the layout and the
merchandise.

Closing it out, Jim in Merced, CA wrote in to correct Steve Russo's Stump
the Hosts from last week. Steve listed the name of one of the characters as
"Flora Lawn," but Jim (who worked as Jim Handy at Pioneer Hall as
a sub, in 1987-89) wanted to clarify that his leading lady's name was "Flora
Long." Sorry Steve, nobody's perfect.

Changing the feed, our contest and MouseFest

We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the new format of shorter, more
frequent MouseStation shows. Currently, MouseStation is published three times
a week, with short subjects on Mondays, featured topics on Wednesdays and
listener feedback on Fridays; the MousePlanetWatch news is published on Thursday.
We're still currently maintaining the series of three feeds, one for MouseStation
only, one for MousePlanetWatch only and one for both shows.

Based on listener feedback, we will be deciding whether to merge the feeds,
and return to a single feed with all shows, folding MousePlanetWatch into
the main MouseStation feed. That would still leave us with four shows per
week, but there would be only one feed. With the current listener numbers
being fairly even between MouseStation and MousePlanetWatch, it seems as if
there's a great deal of overlap between the shows.

Please weigh in on the idea of returning to a single feed via email
or by calling our toll-free feedback line at 1-866-939-2278. Don't forget
that we love voicemails because then we can put your voice on the show!

Don't forget that you've only got two weeks from tomorrow to get your entry
in for our Owner's Locker contest!

We also wanted to remind you that we have now scheduled our MouseFest meet
for the podcasts. The MouseStation Hustle-tini Meet will begin at 5:30 p.m.
at Classic Concoctions in the Everything Pop food court at Disney's Pop Century
Resort for Bluetinis to get our nerve up to get up and boogie. We'll make
sure that we're in the lobby before 6 p.m. so that we can do The Hustle, then
return to Classic Concoctions or elsewhere to record some more for the podcast.
For more information on the Hustle-tini or any other MousePlanet-sponsored
meet at MouseFest, check out our MouseFest
information page. If you've got any ideas on what might make a cool MouseStation
T-shirt for MouseFest, let Mark know!

Wrapping up

Please take a few minutes to complete our listener
survey. It helps us learn more about you and what you like most about
this podcast.

Don't forget to go to the iTunes podcast directory and give us a good rating!

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About MousePlanet

MousePlanet is your independent consumer guide to Disney travel and vacations, covering Disneyland, Walt Disney World and the Disney Cruise Line. Look to MousePlanet for daily news, weekly theme park updates, and detailed travel and resort guides for your favorite Disney destinations. As with any endeavor of this size and complexity, we couldn't hope to succeed without the assistance of our readers. We encourage you to submit news, updates and feedback from your Disney travels.

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MousePlanet is not associated in any official way with the Walt Disney Company, its subsidiaries. or its affiliates. The official Disney site is available at www.disney.com. This MousePlanet Web site provides independent news articles, commentary, editorials, reviews. and guides about the Walt Disney Co. All information on this site is subject to change. Please contact destinations in advance to confirm the most up-to-date information.